1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the automotive illuminating apparatus.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 11-277899, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional automotive illuminating apparatus turns on and off a room lamp that is disposed approximately at the center of a ceiling in synchronism with on-off operations of an ignition key, opening-closing of doors or locking-unlocking of doors.
Even in a case wherein the room lamp that is disposed at the center of the ceiling is illuminated, not all parts in the vehicle room are illuminated sufficiently. Especially the areas under the beltline, such as inside door handles, door pockets, floor and central consoles, which cannot receive sufficient light from the illuminated courtesy lamp, are too dark for a driver and passengers to see clearly.
In Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho. 62-255256, as a solution to this inconvenience, when a door is unlocked, the vicinity of an inside door handle for opening the door is locally illuminated for a predetermined duration of time.
Such a local illumination as described above improves convenience for the driver and the passengers to use the illuminated area. The local illumination, however, which is carried out in accordance with locking and unlocking of doors, is useless in the indoor areas of the vehicle other than the inside door handles.
Inventors of the present invention have researched further into the independent use of a partial illumination or a joint use with the room lamp. The research has revealed that the drivers"" activities and purposes of the activities inside the stopped automobiles are different from those inside the travelling automobiles. That is, the drivers concentrate entirely on the driving operations while driving the automobiles, and thus any environment that disturbs their power of concentration should not be created inside of the vehicle room. On the other hand, since the drivers carry out some kind of operations, such as map reading and audio equipment adjustment, while the automobiles are being stopped, illumination is required to facilitate the operations.
The present invention is based on the above-described findings by the inventors themselves and the structure thereof is as follows:
An automotive illuminating apparatus for illuminating the interior of a vehicle room, which characteristically comprises:
means for detecting whether a vehicle is stopped or drivable,
a light source, and
control means for control of the light source, based on a result of detection by the detecting means, wherein the light source is controlled to be in the first light emitting state when the vehicle is stopped while the light source is controlled to be in the second light emitting state when the vehicle is drivable.
The illuminating apparatus of this structure enables different modes for the illuminated parts, respectively in the stopped state and the drivable state. Consequently, new vehicle room lamp designs are available. Especially when the vehicle is being driven or drivable, the light source is made comparatively dimmer to enhance the driver""s power of concentration on the driving operations. On the other hand, when the vehicle is stopped, the light source is made comparatively brighter to enable efficient indoor operations.
Each element that constitutes the illuminating apparatus of this invention is described as follows. As described above, the illuminating apparatus of this invention is purposed to optimize the indoor environment for the driver and the passengers, and the vehicle where the illuminating apparatus of the invention is entirely applied is a passenger car. It should be duly understood that uses of this invention in the motortruck and the vehicles of other types are not limited. As a detecting means for detecting whether the vehicle is stopped or drivable, an embodiment herein uses a position sensor on the gearshift in an automatic transmission vehicle. The vehicle is recognized as being stopped when the gearshift is in the parking position and recognized as being drivable when in the other positions. The vehicle may be recognized as being stopped when the gearshift is in the neutral position.
It a case of manually operated transmission gearshift vehicle, the vehicle is recognized as being stopping when the gearshift is in the neutral position. When the gearshift is in the other positions, the vehicle is recognized as drivable. Whether the vehicle is stopped or drivable is also recognized from a state of the parking brake. When the parking brake is engaged (or being pulled up), the vehicle is stopped and, when the parking brake is released, the vehicle is drivable. Whether the vehicle is stopped or drivable is also recognized from a state of the accelerator. When the accelerator is released (or not being stepped on), the vehicle is stopped and, when the accelerator is stepped on, the vehicle is drivable.
Furthermore, whether the vehicle is stopped or drivable is also recognized by detection of actual vehicle speeds. An existing speedometer is utilized for detection of the actual vehicle speeds.
As a light source, an LED, besides the electric valve, can be used in the same way as in conventional uses.
The light source illuminates the areas below the beltline in the vehicle room. The areas illuminated by the light source include the inside door handles, door pockets, scuff plates, passengers"" foot areas, central consoles, and coin- and card-pockets.
There is no particular limitation to installation positions of the light source. Each of the illuminated part may be equipped with a light source, or a single light source may be used for illumination of a plurality of parts.
The light source is controlled to be in either the first light emitting state (when the vehicle is stopped) or the second light emitting state (when the vehicle is drivable). The second light emitting state may be dimmer than the first light emitting state so that the driver can concentrate on the driving operations. In the embodiment, the output of the light source in the second light emitting state is approximately 95% of the first light emitting state. As a result, when the vehicle is in a travelling state after the concerned part has been brightly illuminated in the stopped vehicle state, the illuminated part is maintained with visual legibility but the reduced brightness enhances concentration on the driving operations.
The light source can be completely dimmed out in the second light emitting state. In this case, a gradual transfer (a fading out) from the illuminated state (the first light emitting state) to the extinguished state (the second light emitting state) is also possible. In the same way, a gradual transfer (a fading in) from the extinguished state (the second light emitting state) to the illuminated state (the first light emitting state) is also possible. Thus, the gradual change in the illuminated state enables new effects on the illumination design in the vehicle room.
Features and advantages of the invention will be evident from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments described in conjunction with the attached drawings.